If Mike Gillis’ reign in Vancouver has taught us anything about the man, it is that he has immeasurable patience.

From his unwavering commitment to inherited head coach Alain Vigneault to his last-minute restricted free agent signing of the Sedins to his current management of the Luongo situation, it is clear that Gillis will not give in to the pressure of conventional thinking.

And so it goes that Roberto Luongo is still here despite being solidly positioned as the back-up to Cory Schneider as the 48 game sprint to the post-season begins on Saturday.

And if you listen to Gillis, he has no problem holding onto Luongo indefinitely until he gets what he feels Luongo is worth.

But there are pressure points on the horizon that even the teflon-skinned Gillis can’t deny.

With Ryan Kesler out indefinitely (and his return to his former self, whenever he does return, up for considerable question) you can expect that the Canucks will have terrible difficulty scoring. Waiting for this desperate predicament to occur will only decrease Luongo’s value.

If Luongo falters in his back-up duty (with the condensed schedule format, you can expect that he will start a game as soon as next week), questions could be raised about his 33 year-old value.

Further, as teams become more familiar with the terms of the new collective bargaining agreement, it is just as likely that the impact of Luongo’s monstrous remaining contract will become even more untenable.

Ultimately, Mike Gillis believes that his once world-class goalie still is that. Further, he will maintain that Luongo’s contract is not onerous but one that simply provides cost certainty. But in the end, his goaltender’s market value is simply whatever the highest bidder is currently prepared to pay and not whatever stubborn notion Gillis may have.

Gillis’ reluctance to get a deal done soon only brings factors into play that he cannot control. And while there is a chance that some of the competing suitors might become more desperate, it’s just as likely that circumstances on his own team could worsen his bargaining position.

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